Shadow and Light
by Aki no Ryu
Summary: A collection of one-shots and drabbles featuring Cloud and Tifa. Will not be game-verse accurate.
1. Chapter 1

**Penumbra**

_Noun: __**shadowing of the sun**_

by Aki no Ryu

At eight years old, Cloud Strife already had a definite opinion about his name. He thought it was terrible. Who named a boy after something so fluffy, wispy, and _girly_ as a cloud? His father and mother didn't seem to be bothered by it but he sure was. His classmates shared his sentiments when they giggled during introductions in class. _She _didn't though and later told him she thought it was a nice name. Whatever, girls had cooties and their opinion didn't count. He would never admit that he thought her name was as pretty as her.

x-x-x

In his senior year in high school, he flinched a little when he wrote it in the application form. Would college admission officers see potential in someone named after one of the most insignificant phenomena of nature? He shuddered to think of introducing himself in college. She bumped his shoulder at the scowl on his face and merlot-tinged eyes sparkled as she shook her head at him, silently scolding him for his worries. _It's not a bad name,_ she would say_, and if they think it is, who cares? _He'd feel better then and a just little bit silly for still being hung up on something like his name. She'd kiss his cheek and that would banish any other thought but her from his mind.

x-x-x

College was an eye-opener for him. People didn't really care if you were eccentric or unusual, they looked once then took it in stride, as if it wasn't such a bad thing to be different. He was surprised, but he liked it. _See? I told you,_ she would tease. They began to talk about the future, their future. Together. He knew he would ask her to be his forever. She knew she would say yes when he did. War broke out before the question could be asked or the answer given. He enlisted. She volunteered. He on the front, she behind the lines. He would listen intently for his own whenever the messenger walked through the camp, calling out names on the letters he brought from mothers, sisters, sweethearts, and wives. He would imagine her saying his name in her warm voice and it was like a soothing breeze to his heart.

x-x-x

It only lasted for a few short years but to those who fought in it, it was a few years too many. He was still a young man but his eyes were burdened with the weight of years. He had already seen and done things that someone thrice his age should never had had to see or do. He had had his share of witnessing death, saving lives; experiencing grief, and joy. There were days when he would wish he had a different name, a different life, one that was not tainted with so much darkness. Then she would say his name with all the love that only she could hold and his heart would lighten. No, he wanted this life, if only because she was in it. His love, his life, his wife. She was reason enough for him to embrace his life with all its darkness because she was his light. She would wrap slender arms around him and he'd kiss her hungrily. She would smile and whisper his name against his lips. _Cloud._


	2. Cardinal

**Cardinal**

_Adjective:__** important, key**_

_by Aki no Ryu_

A figure clad in black from head to foot crouched on the roof and grabbed the edge, executing a flawless backward flip onto the second story veranda below. With a soundless glide, the doors admitted him into a luxuriously furnished dining room. He didn't need a light to see in the pitch darkness, the waning moon affording more than enough illumination for his enhanced eyesight to see by. He crept on silent feet, searching for the priciest items he could grab.

"If you're here to rob the place, the good silver is in that drawer." A shadowy form in a corner stretched out an arm and pointed. The figure in black froze, ready to escape, or if necessary, overpower the other.

"Don't worry, I won't raise an alarm. It's best for all parties this way."

The intruder kept himself covered in the shadows but moved toward the voice, staying far enough to make a getaway, but still close enough to observe. That the person was a woman, he had guessed from her voice, but it was with surprise that his blue eyes were met with dark unseeing ones. The woman was lovely, with a gravity about her that was unexpected in one so young. It was something that he recognized in himself.

"You're hesitating. Don't. I don't want your pity."

Her voice hardened on the last word as if she was often the object of pity and hated it. He dipped his head in understanding. He knew how that felt. Turning away, he opened the drawer she had indicated. The silver sets lay gleaming in their damask cocoons.

"Take them all but please be careful not to damage the cabinet, it's been in the family for generations."

With a heavy heart he grabbed the silver and lowered it into a carrying case. He had never been more ashamed of what he did than at that moment. He took enough to satisfy the ruthless man who pulled his strings but no more. With a soft click, he snapped the case shut, the stays and straps within ensuring that the expensive silver didn't clang about. He stole one last look at the young woman with her beautiful, unseeing garnet eyes.

"Thank you."

What was she thanking _him_ for? As if hearing his question, she continued.

"For not harming me."

As if he could ever raise a hand against her. In her presence he felt strangely powerless. He turned to go, the young woman awakening emotions in him that he had killed long ago. In his haste, he knocked against a side table, jostling it and tipping the hideous but antique-looking vase on it. He caught it deftly with his free hand.

"I wish you hadn't." Her moon and shadow voice called out. "It's an ugly piece – and I can't even see it!" Her face held an expression that he recognized as laughter though she never made a sound.

x-x-x

She felt a breeze enter the room as the man, she _knew_ it was a man, once again passed through the doors. Just before the doors slid shut, the harsh sound of delicate porcelain meeting a solid floor rang throughout the room. She smiled.


	3. Dawn

**Dawn**

_Noun: __**beginning of day**_

_by Aki no ryu_

She had loved him in a world where everything was perfect. Her young heart was full to bursting with the love and affection she held for him and he, for her. Then suddenly, a lone madman's rampage shattered her dreams. She suffered scars, both within and without. Her beloved was taken from her and she vowed revenge. Overnight she changed. Her once beautiful heart was blackened with rage and pain at the cruelty of the world. She joined a group of rebels, quickly becoming their finest hand combatant.

One day – it seemed as if the drastic changes in her life always happened in the span of a day – he was there. Her beloved, her golden-haired boy. But he was different. She took him in and cared for him, her heart showing itself to still have some semblance of the girl that grew up to soon. He responded to her, like a plant to the sun. He joined her in the cause and together they battled through the injustices which had robbed them of their childhoods and dreams.

Finally, it all came to a head when they confronted their greatest Enemy. The battle was long and bloody, but they emerged the victor, though not with major losses. As the power that the Prayer invoked worked it's miracle over the cancer that lay over the land, a heaviness seemed to be lifted from her heart. She turned to look at him, the boy she had loved as a starry-eyed girl. He was a man now, and she was a woman. Both young in years, but old in age. He held her hand in his as they stood on the edge of the world, watching life and death play out before their eyes. When the Rain came, it cleansed more than just the filth from their bodies.

**-x-x-x-**

She loves him in a world where nothing is perfect. But she has come to learn that perfection is not the end goal; it is what you make of it. Her heart slowly but surely cast off its blackness, the healing working through it until it once again has room for all the love and affection she is capable of. They pick up the love that had been torn from them that fateful night years ago. Now, though, her dreams for their future are no longer whimsical, but they are real. Together they pursue and guard it with a ferocity that only those who have witnessed their struggles would understand. Their love is tainted by blood and tears but it is the stronger for it. She had loved him once as a girl, she loves him now as a woman.


	4. Adoration

**Adoration**

_Noun:__** intense love**_

_by Aki no Ryu_

Love. It is such a powerful word. Families, kingdoms, and empires have been brought low in the name of love. Grand deeds, heroic adventures, and incredible acts of bravery have been carried out in the name of love. For Cloud Strife, love was simply _Tifa_. He is lauded as a hero and a savior but he shrugs it off. He didn't think of the world when he did all those things. He fought for her and that to him is reason enough. His life is a small price to pay for her happiness. Lucky for him her happiness is in a word, simply: _Cloud_.


End file.
